So in my never ending quest to find a better way of doing the stove cleaning, I tried an experiment. I Nickle Plated my Burn pot Liner and Agitator Rod. I sandblasted both as clean as new money. Then using electrolysis I made up a Nickle Acetate solution. Then over the course of a full day I plated both pieces heavily with the Nickle Acetate solution and 99.6% Nickle shims. I think they came out well. I was going for bonding more than a "Chrome" finish. About the end of August I installed the liner and rod and ran the stove normally. We burned about 20 bags sporadically until tonight. After work tonight I decided to vac out the stove and give it a good clean out. I found the agitator rod looked great with minimal clinker buildup. The Burn pot Liner needed the usual scraping but the clinker formations seemed to come off easier. Might be wishful thinking. Only real downside I observed was the glass was extra tough to clean. Not sure if the Nickle fumed and stuck to the glass. I had to really scrub with Rutland stove glass cleaner to get it looking good. So in conclusion, I think the Nickle Plating was worth it. Time will tell if it holds up. But it only cost me about $20.00 in supplies and some time. Nailer
